Iowa Astronaut Returns To Earth

(Undated) -- A spacecraft (SpaceX Dragon Endurance) carrying Cedar Falls native Raja Chari and three other astronauts safely splashed down overnight. They're now at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. They had been on the International Space Station on a science mission for six months.

"We're glad to be back, thanks for letting us take Endurance, looking forward to watching many more flights of Endurance in the future, it was a great ride," Chari remarked to mission control staff shortly after splashdown. Chari made a joke about gravity, saying his only complaint was how heavy their water bottles seemed.

He and his crew have now returned to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Read more about Raja Chari's trip to the International Space Station HERE.